March 2, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Fewer mass layoffs in 1999
There were 14,909
layoff events in 1999, involving a total of 1,572,399 initial claims for
unemployment insurance in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
After increasing in 1997 and 1998, the number of layoffs and initial
claimants returned to around 1997 levels.
[Chart data—TXT]
Manufacturing accounted for 33 percent of all mass layoff events in
1999 and 40 percent of initial claims filed. Initial claims filings were
most numerous in transportation equipment (98,746) and industrial
machinery and equipment (87,363).
The number of initial claims due to mass layoffs continued to be higher
in the West (576,654) than in any other region. Layoffs in business
services, agricultural services, and motion pictures accounted for 41
percent of the claims in the West. The fewest mass-layoff initial claims
continued to be reported in the Northeast region (207,057).
These data are a product of the Mass
Layoff Statistics program. Find out
more in "Mass
Layoffs in December 1999" (USDL
00-49). A mass layoff action involves at least 50 persons from a single
establishment.
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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Read more »